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• Applicants wanted for Somerset seat on County Board
• CDC head assesses H1N1 scenario for new school year; state briefs
• Town of Kinnickinnic: Bidding change and new road discussed

Applicants are being sought to fill out an unexpired term on the St. Croix County Board.

Those applying for the seat previously held by Shane Demulling must be qualified voters and residents of District 30. The district includes Wards 1 and 2 of the village of Somerset and Ward 1 of the town of Somerset.

Demulling, who was first elected in April 2008, has sold his house and moved out of the district, said County Clerk Cindy Campbell Monday.

Any person interested in serving out the term is invited to call County Board Chairman Roger Rebholz at 386-4605 or Campbell at 386-4610. Interested persons may also contact Rebholz in writing at 1101 Carmichael Road, Hudson, WI 54016 or e-mail him at rogerr@co.saint-croix.wi.us.

The deadline for applying is Sept. 1.

Rebholz intends to recommend a replacement at the Sept. 22 County Board meeting. The appointment must be confirmed by a majority vote of the board.

The term expires in April 2010.

Demulling also served on the County Board's Transportation Committee. Members of that committee are elected, and the County Board is expected to fill that vacancy at its Aug. 18 meeting.

How bad the flu could be -- and how good prevention will be -- are issues health officials are tackling before school begins.

Centers for Disease Control Director Thomas Frieden says if all goes well -- and a vaccine for H1N1 is ready by October -- and if children get the two doses expected to be needed -- it will be Thanksgiving before immunity kicks in.

He expects school closures, but advises local officials who will make that decision, to do so sparingly.

Closures clearly stop the spread of the virus at the school but don't seem to have a large impact on the total number of cases within a community, says Frieden.

The CDC chief adds the possible benefits of closing must be balanced with the negatives: reduced education; school meals missed; unsupervised kids; or the lost wages of parents. Frieden is encouraging schools to be vaccination points.

Milwaukee Public Schools Health Coordinator Kathleen Murphy says the logistics make it possible, simply because they tend to be in community areas and have large gyms and available parking to facilitate such an effort.

Young people -- age 5 to 24 years of age -- have been hardest hit by the H1N1 virus. That segment has comprised most of the cases nationwide.

-- Shamane Mills, Wisconsin Public Radio

Poor economy behind increased demand for school goods

As the new school year nears, more families are pinching pennies on school supplies. The struggling economy is driving many to reach out more to local charities for back-to-school staples.

The National Retail Federation says families will spend 8 percent less this year than in 2008. Its survey shows those with K-12 students will spend about $550 per child this year, down from $600 the previous year.

The economic downturn also has some families turning to community groups. Milwaukee's St. Vincent DePaul Society figures it'll help 5,000 local children get school supplies this year, up from 4,000 in 2008. Development director Mary Greulich says layoffs are behind the increase.

She says they've already seen a 12 percent jump in calls this year, asking for school supplies as well as food, furniture and rental and medication assistance.

In Madison, RoJeane Anderson helps run a school supplies program for the Vogel Foundation and Madison Urban Ministry. It serves needy children in Dane County.

Anderson says last year, nearly 16,000 kids got supplies. This year, that number is at 17,500, which she says represents about 26 percent of the total student body, or more than one-fourth of kids needing crayons, rulers, and backpacks.

As for clothes, the Salvation Army in La Crosse helps eligible kids get new duds and shoes for back to school. Last year they helped nearly 500 kids, and this year they're on track to do the same if not more.

Organizers say hard times are also hurting donations of school supplies. They urge families to reuse items, and avoid taking any that they already have or don't need.

-- Brian Bull, WPR

Great Lakes cleanup monies and assessment debated on Capitol Hill

GREAT LAKES REGION -- Discussions continue in Congress about a potential $500 million shot in the arm for the Great Lakes, and how to measure if the money would be spent wisely.

The House of Representatives has passed a $475 million clean-up package for the region. The Senate is weighing a smaller plan: $400 million and a conference committee may need to iron out any disagreement.

Milwaukee Congresswoman Gwen Moore says the lower amount would mean less clean-up work. But she says a difference in dollars should not gum up the process.

A study two years ago by the Brookings Institution concluded that spending a lot of money to clean up the Great Lakes would bring about double in the way of economic benefits.

Wisconsin DNR water administrator Todd Ambs backs the Great Lakes restoration dollars. But Ambs warns that measuring the progress of cleanup would take several years.

President Obama has promised to consider spending big money on the Great Lakes for at least five years, depending on what happens with the current budget proposal.

-- Chuck Quirmbach, WPR Growers hope for good returns following warm and rainy stretch

Many Wisconsin farmers are hoping the recent stretch of warm weather will help their corn and soybean crops catch up before harvest time.

Corn and soybeans are behind in development this summer due to late planting, not enough rain in some areas, and unseasonably cold temperatures.

Producers are hoping the recent stretch of warm days and nights, along with the rain, could help the crops develop sufficiently by harvest time.

Bob Olson is the executive director of the Wisconsin Corn Growers Association, and also farms near Palmyra. He says looking at his own cornfields, they're clean, weed-free, and have had fertilizer applied. But they're two to three weeks behind.

Olson says they've done their part, but Mother Nature hasn't done her part yet.

Robert Karls, executive director of the Wisconsin Soybean Association, says soybeans are behind, but weather like the recent rains and warmer temps could help the crop's development.

Vernon County extension agriculture agent Tim Rehbein agrees. He says the next few weeks between August and September are vital for farmers in his southwest Wisconsin County.

Rehbein says there is likely not enough growing-degree days left in the season to have a bumper crop of either soybeans or corn in Vernon County.

-- Steve Roisum, WPR

Peace activists await trial for army base demonstration

SPARTA -- Nine anti-war protesters face trespassing charges following a demonstration at the U.S. Army base at Fort McCoy over the weekend.

The protest was part of an annual three-day peace walk held to commemorate the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki 64 years ago.

Bonnie Urfer of Luck, Wis., has been arrested dozens of times during similar walks. She says all those who were arrested for trespassing on base did so because they oppose war in all forms.

She says the soldiers deploying from the base are part of a failed policy that uses violence to try to end the violence in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Urfer says peace never comes through violence and terrorism is not an option for creating peace.

There were 50 people on the peace walk. Of the nine arrested, Urfer was one of four from Wisconsin. Other protesters came from Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and New York. They all face jail and trespassing fines.

The U.S. prosecutor in Madison says the trial will be scheduled sometime over the next two months. U.S. attorney John Vaudreuil, says a glitch in communications between his office and military police at the base led to four of the protesters spending a night in the Dane County jail.

He says the Justice Department's routine procedures for these annual protests are to ticket trespassers and release them for trial at a later date.

-- Gil Halsted, WPR

Invasive fish nearing major waterways

The EPA says it's keeping a careful eye on reports that Asian carp are closer to getting into the Great Lakes.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says preliminary results from genetic testing of water samples show a type of the fish may be closer to an electric barrier near Chicago than first thought.

Biologists predict that if the invasive carp gets into the Great Lakes, it will do great harm to the native fish population.

John Perrecone is with the EPA's Great Lakes national program office. He says the EPA is concerned about the Asian carp's proximity but none have spawned in the Great Lakes yet. He says his agency is watching very closely.

Perrecone says additional funding for improvements to the carp barrier is being considered for the next federal budget.

At a Milwaukee news conference, U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore suggested that during the August congressional recess, she doesn't expect any major move by Congress against the possible advance of the Asian carp.

-- Chuck Quirmbach, WPR

Patricia Huber

Phuber0722@gmail.com

TOWN OF KINNICKINNIC -- Town Engineer Dave Simons, representing the road committee, presented a guideline revision at last week's Kinnickinnic Town Board meeting.

The change addresses the open bidding process for road work. The guideline currently allows for acceptance of only one bid if no other bids are received.

The revision would mean that if only one bid is obtained, the committee will make every attempt to secure a second bid. Simons said the change is being proposed to ensure there are no misperceptions regarding the fairness of the open bidding process and to continue to follow state guidelines regarding bidding.

Town attorney Robert Loberg has reviewed the revision but will be asked whether the new guideline should become an ordinance or a resolution.

The board will then make their decision whether to adopt the revision at next month's Town Board meeting.

Simons also reported that three bids have been received for cutting and patching of previously identified broken-up roads and for expansion of the town hall parking lot.

The lowest bid was accepted from Monarch Paving in the amount of $27,505 with a 10 percent contingency if needed for additional work.

Read more about what was discussed in the Aug. 13 print edition of the River Falls Journal.